Bitcoin faces stiff resistance at the $61,300 threshold, with its price struggling below $60,000 in the past 24 hours.
Despite the cooling inflation data, futures market metrics reflect a bearish investor sentiment for Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, the bulls are putting up a tough fight, vying to reclaim market control.
Notably, the Bitcoin options expiry on August 16 is a focal point for investors and traders looking for the next trend.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Set to Expire Amid Price Retracement
According to Deribit data, 24,000 Bitcoin options with a put call ratio of 0.83 will expire on Friday, August 16. These Bitcoin options have a total contract value (notional value) of 41.4 billion and a maximum pain point of $59,500.
Tomorrow approximately $1.88 billion in crypto #options are set to expire 🚀🚀
BTC Options
Not. Value: $1.4 B
Put/Call Ratio: 0.83
Max Pain: $60,000ETH Options
Not. Value: $0.48 B
Put/Call Ratio: 0.83
Max Pain: $2,650Weekly Expiry: 8:00 AM UTC, 16 August pic.twitter.com/cY3XMNYFur
— Deribit (@DeribitExchange) August 15, 2024
Bitcoin’s put call ratio of 0.83 confirms that buyers and sellers are struggling for control. BTC trades at $58,453, with a 3% 24-hour decline, and technical indicators suggest prices could further drop to $54,000.
The current options expiry makes up 10% of the total open positions available, while August, September, and December options expiry make up slightly over 20%.
In addition, the options term distribution is relatively stable, showing significant resilience as the market navigates the bearish tides. This also hints at a possible reduction of market volatility to enter a more stable phase.
In addition to the Bitcoin options, 184,000 ETH options will expire on August 16 with a put-call ratio of 0.80. These Ether options have a maximum pain point of $2,650 and a notional value of $470 million.
Ether and most altcoins have struggled in price over the past 24 hours, mirroring Bitcoin’s struggles as sellers mount pressure on BTC. Ethereum’s price at 8:39 a.m. EST is $2,574, down 3.4% in the past 24 hours.
Despite the relaxed US inflation, Bitcoin faces strong rejection at the $61,300 price level, preventing a potential rally to $61,000. BTC’s price struggles continue as the US tech stocks gain massively; hence, there is no correlation.
Analytical platform 10x Research reveals that Bitcoin could retreat and trade in the $50,000-$60,000 range. If BTC retreats, it will trade at lower lows, leading to long liquidations close to $50,000.
BTC’s Price Movement Shows Volatility
Meanwhile, Bitcoin rebounded from a low of $56,150 on August 15 to trade above $58,000 on August 16. These price moves caused significant liquidation of long and short trading positions, reaching $75 million, according to data from CoinGlass.
Consequently, popular trader Daan Crypto Trades referred to Bitcoin’s price movement as a “sweeping masterclass.” Bitcoin’s price moved past critical highs and lows on the daily chart in a sweeping motion, resulting in liquidations.
Meanwhile, analyst Keith Alan noted that a fourth death cross formed on BTC’s daily chart on August 15. Alan predicted a re-test of BTC’s support levels around $49,500 before the bulls begin the next rally.
However, if the bears push Bitcoin below the trendline, there will be an extended downtrend before a recovery.
On August 14, Alan noted that Bitcoin had experienced three different death crosses in just nine days. These death crosses came in quick succession following a 30% price drop due to rejection at $69,000.
Alan noted that while death crosses signal downtrends, they do not result in sustained bearish markets. Rather, a death cross sometimes marks the end of a retracement and the beginning of a positive uptrend.
We now have a 4th Death Cross on the Bitcoin Daily chart.
Which scenario do you think is more likely?
1. This leads to a test of support. Potentially, a double bottom at $49.5k validates support and bulls start the next leg up.
2. BTC gets flushed to the trend line which… https://t.co/3dwen6dCDh pic.twitter.com/4dprFHEbv4
— Keith Alan (@KAProductions) August 15, 2024
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not constitute financial advice. We encourage readers to conduct their own research and determine their own risk tolerance before making any financial decisions. Cryptocurrency is a highly volatile, high-risk asset class.
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